‘Your e-papers rely on circulation through social media. So, why are you stopping others from sharing these important messages?’ I can hear the whispers! That’s why I have cautiously used the word ‘frequently’ in the title. When we wanted to reduce paper usage, environmentally conscious persons started advocating the use of emails. Now it is time to caution against social media posts, or at least greetings. Digital greetings save trees and transport emissions, but excessive images, videos, and mass forwards quietly increase carbon footprints through energy-hungry data systems.  But the carbon footprint for online texting is better. We do not dispute it. The concern is about the huge volume of online messages. Data centres consume electricity as they process and store data at data centres, that run 24×7. They require electricity for servers and cooling devices, which is partly generated from coal or gas power. Every time we send a WhatsApp message, it travels through multiple servers. A Text message may consume very low energy, while a photo requires 10 times more data. Obviously, a video greeting requires hundreds of times more data. Sending the same video to many groups causes repeated downloads, multiplying energy use. Each greeting causes Screen lighting, CPU processing and Battery charging (indirect power use). So we can say that one message is tiny, but if it circulates a billion times, it matters together. Online greetings are still far greener than physical alternatives, but not zero-carbon. Cards with simple text or low-size images may be termed low-carbon cards. It is advisable to prefer them over repeated videos and autoplay videos. Deleting messages frequently is always good. We have given in the box the carbon emissions of online greetings, but they are only estimates, not precise. Understanding the impact helps. Instead of ignoring this topic, let us try to minimise usage to reduce harm to environment. Environmental challenges are subtle. It isn’t easy to decide what to give up and what not. Someone whispered to me that even our breathing releases CO2. That does not mean that we should stop breathing. When there is a significant impact on environment, it requires review.

“Digital greetings are greener than paper, but excessive images and videos quietly burn energy in remote data centres. Let us think globally and act locally”